AWeber vs Mailchimp

AWeber vs Mailchimp - 2021 Comparison

If you are looking for reliable tools that can help you set up efficient email campaigns, AWeber and Mailchimp can provide you the features you need. Discover which one is better for your needs in this AWeber vs Mailchimp comparison.

Written by Ria du Plessis - Digital Marketing Expert

Updated 9/1/2021

 

Aweber  logo

AWeber Review

Mailchimp logo


Mailchimp Review

Score

8.1/10

8/10

Summary

AWeber is an excellent tool for newbies thanks to its easy-to-use dashboard.It provides lots of great templates and multiple automation features.

Mailchimp is a good choice for beginners and more experienced users as well.

It offers myriad design options and reliable reporting and testing features. 

 

 AWeber vs Mailchimp - Quick Comparison

 

Aweber  logo

Mailchimp logo

Pros 

  • A wide array of integrations 
  • Good customer support
  • Free data migration
  • Multiple design options
  • Intuitive interface
  • Plenty of integrations
  • Comparative reports
  • Good  customer support

Cons 

  • The automation features are rather basic
  • The interface is not as user-friendly as Mailchimp’s
  • The workflows are more difficult to set up compared to other platforms
  • he segmentation process is not very flexible
  • Limited support for the basic plans
  • Fewer integrations compared to AWeber

Key Features

  • Automated workflows
  • Numerous integrations
  • Email templates
  • Forms and landing pages
  • Email templates
  • Forms and landing pages
  • Reports and workflows
  • Testing

Pricing

  • Free plan
  • 500 contacts - $19/month
  • 2,500 contacts - $29/month
  • 5,000 contacts - $49/month
  • 25,000 contacts - $149/month
  • Free plan
  • Essential plan $9.99
  • Standard plan $14.99
  • Premium plan $299

Support

  • Phone
  • Live Chat
  • Email
  • Knowledge base
  • Knowledge base
  • Chat
  • Email
  • Phone

Ease of Use

  • The forms and templates are pretty easy to use
  • Overall, the interface can be more difficult to get used to than Mailchimp’s
  • Good support options
  • Drag-and-drop email builder
  • Plenty of educational resources
  • Intuitive workflows

Best fit for

Medium - big companies, marketers who require numerous email design options and integrations.

Small and medium companies, beginners.

Importing Contacts

To be able to easily use your email marketing tool, you need to import your contacts list first. Here is how AWeber vs Mailchimp work.

Importing Contacts with AWeber 

AWeber helps you import your contacts easily. With this platform, you can transfer your contacts from different format types. Whether you store them as text files or spreadsheets, AWeber allows you to import them fast and safely. 

Another easy way to get these contacts uploaded into your AWeber account is by simply copy-pasting them from different other tools or maps. Afterward, you need to map this data according to the platform’s list fields.

Importing Contacts with Mailchimp

Mailchimp also allows you to import your contacts easily. You can transfer the related details from different tools such as eCommerce platforms or CRM’s thanks to the platform’s multiple integrations. 

With Mailchimp, you can also import your contact from different formats such as excel files or CSV files. After the transfer is completed, the platform also asks you to map your information according to the existing list fields.

The Winner

Both tools offer quite similar capabilities. However, with Mailchimp, it is slightly easier to complete the transfer. So, the first point goes to this platform. 

Signup Forms

Signup forms are important for lead generation purposes. These forms can help you collect relevant customer data. Both AWeber and Mailchimp provide form-building features. 

AWeber Signup Forms 

AWeber offers some of the most in-depth sign-up forms, which is a great advantage if you want to explore your audience and gain valuable insights. There are 25 different fields you can use to customize these forms to obtain the info you’re interested in. 

There are also plenty of design options you can use and different templates that will ease your work. Alternatively, you can create your own templates from zero. The forms can be embedded into your website or converted into landing pages, and there are also different split tests you can carry out to evaluate their effectiveness.

Mailchimp Signup Forms

With Mailchimp, you can also create signup forms by using the platform’s HTML widget. You can quickly add these forms to your website or a different website and choose between a pop-up or embedded format. You can tailor the design and content based on your brand to make your forms more engaging and efficient for your lead generation strategy. 

The forms can appear in different parts of your page, based on your preferences (sidebar, footer, or anywhere else), and there are also multiple templates you can choose from.

The Winner

AWeber gets a point because the form-building process is easier and requires no HTML experience. 

You may also like the following comparison: Hubspot vs Mailchimp

Email Templates 

If you want to design beautiful and engaging emails easier, you need ready-made templates. Here is what you get from AWeber vs Mailchimp. 

AWeber Email Templates 

AWeber boasts an incredible library of email templates that currently contains around 700 options. These templates are mobile responsive. Therefore, they’ll be nicely displayed on any type of device. There are multiple elements you can select to customize your emails: color schemes, layouts, or designs. 

You can also add your company’s logo to personalize your chosen template and use one of the 600+ free stock images the platform offers. AWeber takes the customization process to the next level and, if you’re too busy, offers you the possibility to get custom templates designed by their team of experts.

Mailchimp Email Templates

Mailchimp provides fewer email templates, somewhere around 100. However, they're nicely designed to meet different business goals. Alternatively, you can also choose to create your own email designs from zero, although this involves some coding knowledge.

The email builder is easy to use, and you can change different elements directly in the email’s design. After you have chosen a certain template, and you would like to customize it, you can remove or add content blocks. 

Three of the main templates you can use for your campaign are the minimal, simple text, and gallery templates, the latter being suitable for emails that focus on images. 

There are two layout options for email templates: the featured layout, which includes content blocks and placeholder content, and the basic layout, which allows you to add content using a full-width template or a regular one. There are also numerous themes you can choose from for different purposes (newsletters, events, etc.).

The Winner

Both platforms provide multiple options. It’s a tie

Automation

Through automated emails, you save a lot of time and constantly nurture your leads by sending customized messages based on their actions. 

AWeber Automation

AWeber’s automation can be found in the campaigns section. They are a relatively new addition to the platform, and we found them straightforward. 

To use automation in AWeber, you first need to create a list of contacts. Then, you can start configuring the string of emails your contacts will receive at specific intervals. To boost these automations’ efficiency by making sure you send the right message to a specific audience, you can use tags that will help you segment.

Mailchimp Automation

Mailchimp provides a good set of automation, allowing you to carefully customize each email flow based on the specific list you send it to. This ability to segment your audience into groups when you configure automated email campaigns is particularly useful for eCommerce businesses. 


You can create automation from this platform pretty easily by navigating to the Campaigns section and choosing the Autoresponders option from the dropdown menu. The platform also allows you to use different predefined workflows to further speed up the process. Depending on your needs, you can choose different workflows for abandoned carts, new blog post updates, reminders, product recommendations, personalized order notifications, follow-up emails for recent purchases.

The Winner

All in all, Mailchimp seems to be more intuitive when you’re creating and implementing automated workflows, so the point goes to this platform. 

Deliverability

Deliverability refers to your emails’ likelihood of getting to your contacts’ inboxes. A good email marketing platform offers high deliverability rates. 

AWeber Deliverability

AWeber follows strict rules when delivering emails. It follows ISP standards in sending opt-in emails and respects different spamming-related restrictions. This software also monitors users' accounts to prevent spamming. 

All their procedures aim to ensure good deliverability rates. According to tests carried out by emaildeliverabilityreport.com, out of 141 emails sent with AWeber, 107 or 76.09% of the total number reached the email inbox and 28.6 went to the spam folder.

Mailchimp Deliverability

Tests featured on the same website show that Mailchimp reached a deliverability rate of 67.6% managing to send 95.2 out of 140 emails to subscribers' email inboxes. 

Mailchimp also relies on different tools to increase its deliverability rate and comply with industry standards. This software uses Omnivore, an abuse-detecting tool to spot and prevent unethical email campaigns, and is registered with ISP, which enables it to receive a prompt notification when the emails it delivers are marked as junk. It is also very prompt in answering and solving complaints related to spam emails.

The Winner

Both tools take multiple measures to detect and prevent spam. However, the tests we analyzed indicate that AWeber is more efficient. 

Pricing

If price is one of the most important factors you take into account when purchasing software for your business, here is what you should know about Mailchimp and AWeber’s pricing plans.  

AWeber Pricing

AWeber’s pricing options start at $19 per month. You can use this plan for 500 subscribers. If you choose to pay for three months or a year, you can enjoy a discount. 

As your subscribers’ list grows, you will have to pay more to use the software. For 5,000 subscribers, the monthly subscription costs $49. For a list of 10,000 contacts, you have to pay $69 per month and for up to 25,000, the price is $149. There is also a free plan you can use for 30 days, with full access to all the platform’s features.

Mailchimp Pricing

Mailchimp provides three distinct plans. The first one is called the Essential plan, and it costs $9.99 per month. This plan allows you to have an unlimited number of subscribers, and the same goes for the number of emails you send each month. 

The next plan is the Standard tier and costs $14.99. The upper tier is the Premium plan. It costs $299 per month and entails extra advanced features, as well as phone customer support. The platform also offers a free plan for up to 2,000 subscribers. Moreover, Mailchimp can also be used on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The Winner

We choose Mailchimp this time as we find its pay-as-you-go option extremely useful. 

Ease of Use

Whether you're a beginner or an experienced marketer, you probably don't want to spend a lot of time figuring out how to use your email marketing software. Therefore, the tool you choose should be intuitive.

Mailchimp Ease of Use

AWeber is one of the oldest email marketing platforms on the market, having been around for approximately 2 decades. This might be the reason why this platform is harder to use. Some of its features are not easy to find, for example, the ability to reuse a previous email campaign. 

Also, navigating through the various stages of creating an email campaign can be more time-consuming compared to Mailchimp. The language used for the menu's features is also different from what you get with most email marketing platforms, for example, the Campaigns section actually refers to automation.

The Winner 

Because it's easier to use and, overall, provides a logical and more straightforward approach, we choose Mailchimp.

Integration

Integrations refer to email marketing software’s ability to connect to different third-party applications and tools to support data sharing and multichannel marketing. 

AWeber Integration

AWeber offers an impressive range of options. More than 800 native integrations are available for different categories including, eCommerce, social media platforms, payment providers, analytic tools, productivity, or content management apps. 

Some of the most popular services you can integrate with your AWeber account include Zapier, Tray.io, HootSuite, Power Bl, WordPress, Magneto, and plenty more.

Mailchimp Integration 

Mailchimp also offers plenty of useful integrations although the total number of tools you can link to this platform is only around 250, which is still a lot compared to other similar software options. 

You can integrate multiple eCommerce platforms with your Mailchimp account; Shopify, Squarespace, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, etc. Social platforms such as Facebook can also connect to Mailchimp. The synchronization with this social channel is particularly useful as you can automatically set up ads from your Mailchimp account so that your subscribers can see them on Facebook.

The Winner

Both services offer a good range of integrations, we choose AWeber for its outstanding number, but we prefer Mailchimp for its synchronizations, so it’s a tie. 

Reports

Through reports, you can understand how well your emails are working, if and how many people read them, and which emails are more engaging.

AWeber Reports

AWeber offers a robust suite of reports. Compared to Mailchimp, it provides similar reporting features that allow you to view your campaigns' performance and understand if and what elements can be improved. You can get reports on your open rates, bounce rates, and see how many people have clicked on your links. 

Moreover, you can also generate in-depth reports related to your contacts’ location or their purchases.  The reports are pretty easy to understand, although they are not as appealing as the Mailchimp reports. 

Mailchimp Reports

Mailchimp provides good reporting features that can help you set up a reliable email marketing strategy. Besides basic reports such as open rates, bounces, click-throughs, bounce rates, Mailchimp also offers more advanced options as it integrates with Google Analytics

You can view, for example, how well your emails perform across different geographical zones. The number of leads you manage to convert into customers and other sales-related reports is also available for online shops. Social media channels can integrate with Mailchimp, and you can also generate reports related to how engaging your messages are across these channels.

The Winner

Since both platforms provide similar reporting features, we consider it a tie this time too.

You may also like the following comparison: MailerLite vs Mailchimp

Customer Support 

Good customer support is a reason why you might want to choose one email marketing platform over another. Find out what customer support options are available with AWeber vs Mailchimp. 

AWeber Customer Support

AWeber offers multiple support options. You can reach out to their agents by phone from Monday to Friday between 8 AM and 8 PM. This service is available for all Aweber clients. Email support and live chat are also available 24/7, any day of the week. AWeber also has a knowledge base.

Mailchimp Customer Support

With Mailchimp, you can enjoy round-the-clock support either by email or through their live chat. If you access the free plan, you can also benefit from free support for the first month. Phone support is also available. However, you need to get the premium plan to be able to enjoy it. 

Moreover, there is a comprehensive knowledge base any user can access at any time. Mailchimp also offers support both in English and Spanish and the articles in their knowledge base are also available in French and Portuguese.

The Winner

AWeber’s phone support is a great addition to their customer service offering, so we consider it the winner this time. 

When to Use Each

Each one of these two platforms can be more suitable for you based on your particular needs. 

When to Use AWeber

AWeber can be a good option for larger companies that have a significant subscriber list. AWeber allows users to easily import their contacts for free and also boasts an incredible number of integrations. It is also a good choice for marketers who need access to a generous library of email templates and stock images. 

When to Use Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a good choice for small or medium businesses. This tool can work very well even for beginners who have little experience as there are numerous resources you can rely on to learn how to use it. The interface is also modern and intuitive. Mailchimp boasts some valuable features such as send-time optimization, workflows, and support in different languages.

Pros and Cons

Here is a quick overview of the main advantages and disadvantages of AWeber vs Mailchimp. 

AWeber Pros and Cons

AWeber can support your email marketing endeavors with an array of templates and an impressive package of integrations. This platform also enables you to easily transfer your contacts, and it provides reliable customer support even for the lower tiers. However, compared to Mailchimp, its interface is less user-friendly, and the automation is more difficult to configure.

Mailchimp Pros and Cons 

Mailchimp can help you create beautiful email campaigns with ease using their ready-made templates that can be customized within minutes. This platform also provides excellent reports and a useful send-time optimization tool. However, the customer support options and integrations are more limited compared to AWeber.

Alternatives to GetResponse or AWeber 

If this AWeber vs Mailchimp comparison hasn’t convinced you to purchase one of the tools we focused on, here are two valuable alternatives. 

  • HubSpot: HubSpot is an excellent choice if you need an email marketing solution that comes with an integrated CRM. This is just one of the perks of using the complex all-in-one HubSpot email marketing platform. Other benefits include reliable analytics, unlimited email customization, and modern and appealing templates.
  • Sendinblue: Sendinblue is a great option for those who want to set up a multi-channel marketing strategy. For this purpose, the platform includes useful features such as on-page ads, SMS marketing, email automation options, landing page, and lead generation features. 

Final Winner: 

The two email marketing tools we focused on in this comparison are some of the most reliable and reputable options currently available. However, there can only be one winner, and it is AWeber. There are multiple aspects we appreciate in this platform. AWeber offers phone support to all its customers and boasts a great package of integrations, a vast array of templates, and good deliverability rates. We also found that Aweber makes it easier to build forms than Mailchimp.

Check out our other comparisons

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